BART Board Appoints New General Manager
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- The BART Board of Directors on Thursday unanimously voted to hire current interim general manager Robert Powers to replace retiring GM Grace Crunican.
Powers served under Crunican as deputy general manager since 2017, according to BART. She announced her plans to retire last April.
Powers has been working at BART for seven years, most recently as the agency's interim general manager following Crunican's departure.
"He has a tremendous understanding of the district's operations, workforce, and aspirational vision for the future and will provide a smooth transition keeping BART focused on the work ahead," BART Board President Bevan Dufty said.
Powers, who will make $385,000 a year, said he plans to go on a "listening tour" in order to hear directly from riders and BART employees.
"I'll work to protect the public's investment by delivering major projects that will improve and expand service for our riders like the Fleet of the Future, overhauling or aged infrastructure, a new train control system, expansion into Silicon Valley and addressing quality of life issues," Powers said.
Prior to his BART tenure, Powers worked for the departments of transportation in both Seattle and Baltimore. He holds degrees in civil and structural engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
As BART's top administrator, Powers will oversee a $2.4 billion budget along with the agency's 3,600 employees.
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